C.J. lifts injunction; G.O.B. free to sell B.T.L. shares

It was the untying of only one small knot out of the many binding the Government of Belize. But, for the G.O.B., even the slightest loosening of the tangled mess it created in the telecommunications industry must have felt sweet. The big news this morning was that Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh has lifted an injunction levied in late June against the Government, barring the sale of its shares in Belize Telecommunications Limited. That means that Belmopan now has a green light to dispose with its thirty-seven and a half percent holdings in B.T.L. In delivering his judgment, the C.J. stated he made his decision “reluctantly,” given Gilbert Smith of the B.T.L. Workers Trust’s “well meaning” claim and the “spirited defence” of his attorney, Michael Peyrefitte, against B.T.L. and the Government of Belize. But in the end Conteh maintained that the case was “premature” and “unsustainable” because there is in fact no live dispute that would require the court to rule on the nature of a “permitted person” under B.T.L.’s Articles of Association. Conteh said that no evidence was presented to him indicating that Michael Ashcroft’s Ecom holds or intends to hold more than twenty-five percent of the company; this despite a letter from the Prime Minister granting Ecom the permitted person status needed to acquire more than a twenty-five percent share. The workers had argued that Ecom, already holding approximately fifteen percent of B.T.L., would assume a twenty-seven and half percent stake in the company if it accepted G.O.B.’s offer. Convinced the sale to Ecom was a done deal, the workers took their case to the Supreme Court, asking for an interpretation of B.T.L.’s Articles. This morning the C.J. declared that the workers were in fact seeking an advisory opinion on a hypothetical scenario and that while there may be a budding dispute, “the bud has yet to flower and may even wither on the tree”. Furthermore, the Chief Justice determined that no evidence was presented that B.T.L.’s board has failed or will fail to uphold the company’s Articles of Association.

With today’s ruling, the G.O.B. shares are expected to be changing hands rapidly, in the first instance to Ecom and after that presumably to anyone with currency, preferably hard. This would include, we are told, a possible sale by government of twenty percent of the company to the B.T.L. worker’s group, assuming they still want to buy and can find the cash or credit. But today’s most shocking revelation came not from the Chief Justice, but from the Solicitor General, Elson Kaseke. Kaseke, representing the Government of Belize, rose to inform the court that G.O.B. would be pursuing damages against the B.T.L. workers who initiated the case. According to Kaseke, the injunction imposed in late June has cost the Government an estimated fifteen million dollars. When the C.J. adjourned this morning, attorney Michael Peyrefitte responded to the SolGen’s claims.

Michael Peyrefitte, Attorney for B.T.L. Workers
?Why not a hundred million, why not two hundred million, why not a billion? The Chief Justice, in the nicest possible way in the world told the Solicitor General, stop yuh foolishness. I mean, don?t come to this court, he says, and I am minded to point out to you, maybe you can take this opinion advisedly, this is a matter of national importance and given what was about to occur, it was important that he ordered the injunction on twenty-seventh of June when he did. So essentially he is telling the solicitor General, this is a matter of national importance, don?t bring any foolishness about damages or cost to my court. That is how I interpret that.?

?When any judge of the court gives a judgment, all the parties involved just have to accept the judgment. If either party is not satisfied with the judgment, there are steps that can be taken to remedy that dissatisfaction. We can appeal if we want, we can take matters, but as an attorney-at-law I have to follow the instructions of my client, in this case namely Gilbert Smith.?

While Paul Perriott, President of the Belize Communication Workers Union declined an on-camera interview with News Five this morning, we were made to understand that the C.J.’s ruling will be appealed.
Also included in the Chief Justice’s ruling was the status of the special or golden share, which the plaintiff had claimed that under the Articles of the Association, should remain in the hands of the Government of Belize or its representative. In previous proceedings, the SolGen had admitted that Belmopan had in fact sold the share to Jeffrey Prosser’s I.C.C. for one Belize dollar. Again, while the C.J. spoke with sympathy for Smith and Peyrefitte, he ruled that the share is being held legally by I.C.C. since it possesses a written authority from the Government of Belize to do so. However, the Chief Justice stated that given the share’s “important rights and privileges” and “national patrimony”, he hoped that B.T.L.’s board would be serving written notice to I.C.C. for redemption of the share. In closing, Conteh stated that G.O.B.’s decision to sell the share may be called a “big let down” and “cause of disappointment” since it is difficult to believe that a buyer could ever be a seller’s agent.